Device for teaching the blind



Dec. 14, 1948. v c, gEAMAN v 2,456,155v

DEVICE FOR TEACHING THE BLIND Filed Nov. 15, 1944 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 14, 1948 ,UNITED STATES PATENTQ'OFFICE 1 2,456,155 I a 1 DEVICE FOR TEACHING :THE BLIND Emily C. Seaman, New Yogrlr, Application November 15, 1944, seria No. 563.469

' 2 Claims. 1

T This invention relates to a device for facilitating the instruction of the blind in the Braille alpha- The Braille alphabet consists of embossed bet. dots, each letter or other character consisting of a different arrangement of dots with respect to each other and with respect to an imaginary base line. There are six positions of the dots arranged in two parallel rows of three, and the reader, by moving his finger or fingers horizontally across the row, can determine by the sense of touch the arrangement of the dots with respect to each other and the base line and thus determine which character is represented.

' In writing in Braille the writer has a frame which overlies the paper, the frame being provided with a series of openings of generally rec-. tangular configurationbut with the two vertical sides having three indentations. The writer uses a stylus and bv means of the indentations in the sides of the openings which extend in a row across the paper, can produce on the reverse side of the paper embossed dots positioned to constitute the characters of the Braille alphabet. The writing is done from right to left and each character is reversed so that the letter may be read in the usual manner by running the fingers across the lines from left to right.

Children who are born blind and whose sense of feel from infancy has been acutely developed, can learn the Braille method of reading and writing by practice and study just as a'child who has normal sight learns to read and write. More study and application are necessary for a child to obtain proficiency in reading and writing Braille than in ordinary reading and writing, but the difierence is not such that blind children of ordinary intelligence cannot become quite proficlent.

When, however, a grown person is blinded, particularly in middle age or later, the difficulty of learning to read and write in Braille is greatly increased. The sense of touch is not acutely developed, the fingers are not nearly so sensitive, and the confusion between the totally different Braille dot arrangement and the visual appearance of letters with which the blinded person was formerly accustomed makes it very difficult for older persons to acquire proficiency in the Braille system.

The invention of this application is to provide a device for aiding adults in memorizing the dot arrangements which make up the Braille course before they begin their actual lessons in Braille reading and writing. I have found one of the great handicaps experienced by adults in acquiring proficiency'in Bi'aille is that with their in sensitive ,fingers it.-is difficult to distinguish between the difier'ent Braille characters when printed or Writtenon' the small scale which is customary'--and necessary if a message of reasonableflength canbe'carriedby a single page.

Consequently the adult learner must necessarily concentrate primarily on deciding just what arrangement of .dots is. beneath his finger, and when that decision 'is made,,to' translatefthat arrangement ,intowhat letter he remember's it tobe. In" other Words the adult learner, after deciding with some doubt as tov'what pattern of dots is beneath his finger, translates that in his mind intofa visual image of thedots and then attempts to recall, also as a mental, visual image, the letter orother symbol to which it corresponds.

['Ihaveioundthat the speed of learning Braille is greatly accelerated if, before attempting to readilor write, the adult student learns the meanmg of each character so well that he subconsciously and immediately reads the latter as A" or B, or whatever it may be, without the mental processes necessary when the memory alone must be relied upon.

The article constituting the present invention is to facilitate the rapid learning of the Braille alphabet without dependence on the sensitivity of the sense of touch.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 shows in perspective the article in substantially full size;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the article set to represent the Braille character for the letter 8";

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 shows the dot arrangements of several Braille letters, the scale being double that usually employed for book printing; and

Fig. 5 shows on the same scale as Fig. 4 a frame such as employed for writing in Braille.

The device consists primarily of a base I in the form of a block, the upper surface 2 of the block being recessed. The recess is of the configuration of the frame used in Braille writing, that is to say, in each of the two longer side walls of the recess there are three semicircular indentations 3 the centers of which correspond to the positions of the embossed dots used in making up the Braille characters.

In the bottom of the recess at the positions corresponding to the centers of the several indentations are holes 4 in each of which is mounted a peg 5 whose top surface is slightly rounded and projects slightly above the walls of the surround ing recess. The recess is slightly smaller than 3 the size of the palm of the normal adult hand so that the device can be held in one hand and the palm of the other hand pressed against the pegs mounted in the holes 4. In the drawing Fig. 2 the pegs are set in an arrangement corresponding with the embossed dots of the Braille letter "8. That is to say, there are two pegs in the lower and middle recess, respectively, at the left side of the and one pee n t e rece at the top on the right side of the bl ck. When. the hand of the learner is pressed against the pegs so arranged he knows instantly that the letter S is made up of the described arrangement, After familiarizing himself with this arrangement the pegs are rearranged to form another letter, and

so on, through all the Braille characters until the learner can tell instantly when his pal-m contacts the tops of the pegs just What letter or rgther symbol is designated by -the arrangement which e eels.- With. th prelim nar he ar e makes mush mor a d, pro es in readin and Writin Brafllewha att nt nn ca bed estes fltg sen ing t e arran ement of e s ots under h s finger, eaeherrangement int ntl repr enting a Qh ra te that h is markedly ,a ded'by eenterw en the in o bt to ofs ral' im lar ar angements re p esent.-

.inFi'sis show a sho t ngth n s encil.

st p cus m y u ed n w n -l3ra ille,, in

u n e de ice a s lus is plae n e s r d position in the opening 6 as determined by the indentat ons n the wal f the peninaend indentations'made in the paper to p oduce the reverse side the desired character,

{The device may be made out of wood or of plastic at very low cost, and its use will. :be found to shorten by several months the period required for attaining proficiency in the use of Braille by persons plinded after they are grown.

'1 claim:

1,. In a devlce of the character described, a base member, holes in said base member arranged in a pattern corresponding to the embossings forming the Braille alphabet, and movable pegs fitting the said holes whereby by different arrangements and numbers of said pegs the Braille alphabet may be reproduced, the pegs and the spacing of the perforations being much larger than the embossings and spacings, respectively, of a Braille character when printed in the cu toma y mann r. e

In a device pf the character described, a base member, holes in said base member arranged in a pattern corresponding to the em- REFERENCES (HT-ED The fol owin r f rence are of record in the file of thi Patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Numbe Name Da 1,605,697 Birdsall Nov. 2 1925 71,399,130 Brown Apr, '7, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 14,159 Great Britain 1913 221,926 Great Britain 1924 OTHER REFERENCES Psychological and Physiological Apparatus and Supplies. Catalog of C. H. Stoelting Company, 1930. (In Division '53.) Page 1'29--'Item 27,156. 

